His Touch

I reach up and run my fingers through his hair.

“You’re my sweetness, Alice. I love how soft and caring you are. I love that when I get a hold of you that you melt into me. I love that you want to make everyone happy. I don’t want to change that about you. I can be strong if you can be our sweet. I can protect it because a sweetness like yours should be protected.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He leans in, giving me another kiss.

“Tell me the rest.”

“Not much to tell really. Got stuck out in the middle of nowhere and spent my days thinking about you to get me through, thinking of coming home to you, thinking what would happen if I didn’t.” He rubs my belly. “I’ve missed so much already.” He slides down my body to my baby bump. “You’ve been giving your mom a hard time while I was gone.” He kisses me there. I know I won’t tell him how rough it’s been. We both fought our own battle while he was away, and I can see the guilt is still riding him. I won’t give him any more.

“No, he’s perfect.”

His eyes fly from my belly to meet my gaze.

“It’s a boy?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, then I bet you were a handful while I was away, and your mama won’t tell me. Probably just say you were a little angel.”

I smile at that because it’s true.

“Your mommy is stronger than she knows. One has to be strong after going through so much rough. Having the world treat her like it doesn’t care about her for most of her life and still be so sweet, still be so kind and put everyone first above herself—most people go hard. Not your mommy, though. She’s strong in ways where others would fall.”

My eyes fill and a tear escapes. “I don’t know how we got so lucky to get her, but we’ll never let her go, will we, little guy? We’ll show her how much she means to us because she’s our world.”

Chapter Five

Thomas

“I’m so nervous,” Alice says as she paces the floor.

She’s got on a yellow sundress, and I want to rip it off her and take her right here on the living room floor. Her curly red hair is flowing down her back, and my hands twitch to grip it while she’s under me. I’m trying to control my animal instincts, but seeing her baby bump in the dress is driving me insane. Knowing she’s pregnant, and knowing that I put it there, has my inner caveman beating his chest.

“Calm down. Come sit next to me.” I pat the cushion on the couch, but she gives me a stare and shakes her head.

She’s right. If she gets close to me right now, I won’t be able to stop from bending her over the couch and lifting that dress up. I’d be ten inches deep when our company arrived, and we both know that’s a bad idea.

“They’re here!” she shouts, as if I didn’t hear the door shut outside.

I called Maggie and Eli this morning and asked them to come over. I wanted to discuss a few things with them, and I wanted all of us to talk face to face.

When Maggie comes through the door, she goes straight for Alice. It warms my heart to see the love the two of them share, and I’m so happy that Alice has Maggie as a friend. Eli walks over, and we half hug, half beat each other on the back. Once Maggie has peeled herself from Alice, she gives me a hug, too. We all say hello, and then Maggie and Eli take a seat on the couch.

I reach out, taking Alice’s hand and pulling her down on the sofa next to me, wrapping my arm around her waist. Maggie looks at us for a second and then looks at Eli with a question in her eyes.

“Yeah, I’ve known, sunshine,” he says, without having to be asked anything. “I could see a man gone crazy for a woman because I’d looked in the mirror a time or two.”

“I’m so sorry—” Alice starts, but I cut her off.

“Alice and I are together, and she told me that you know about the baby,” I say to Maggie.

“Oh my Jesus! It’s yours!” Maggie shouts, and bounces in her seat. “I’m going to be an aunt!”

“A baby?” Eli says, with pure happiness in his voice. He sounds almost as excited as I did. “This is awesome news. Congratulations, guys.”

I squeeze Alice to me and kiss the top of her head. “See? Nothing to worry about.”

“I just didn’t want you to think I betrayed your friendship, Maggie. I love your dad. I have from the second we met. You’ve always been so kind to me, and I didn’t want you to think I was using you.”